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Sesame-Crusted Salmon with Butternut Noodles

Sesame-Crusted Salmon with Butternut Noodles is a bright, healthy, flavorful meal that takes only 7 ingredients and 15 minutes to get on the plate! Paleo, gluten-free, clean, and Whole30 compliant, this meal will help you stick to your resolutions.

Winter has hit New England HARD. While I usually like to post hearty, comforting soup recipes this time of year, I don’t think anyone will mind if I take a quick detour. Today’s recipe is light and bright, but still satisfying: Sesame-Crusted Salmon with Butternut Noodles.

Salmon gets crunch and flavor from a simple sesame seed coating. Ginger and garlic flavored butternut squash noodles make a healthy side dish (and a pretty presentation). The fact that it takes only 7 ingredients, 15 minutes, and one pan make it almost impossible not to try.

My secret to making this dish come together really fast? Buy the already spiralized butternut squash noodles. Sure, you can make them yourself and save some money, but is it worth the time? That’s for you to decide.

Don’t like salmon? Or butternut squash? You can take the general concept of this recipe and run with it. Try swapping salmon with cod, shrimp, scallops, or tilapia. You could definitely use zucchini noodles, carrot noodles, or spiral sliced potatoes instead of butternut squash. You could even use a mix of different veggie noodles if you want to be creative! If you’re looking for more ginger or garlic flavor, you can use a heavier hand with these ingredients. The cooking times will likely need some adjusting, but it shouldn’t be too hard to figure that out.

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a large cast iron pan, heat the oil over medium heat for a minute or so. Add the garlic, ginger, and white parts of the scallions, and cook for a few minutes until they begin to become fragrant.

Add the raw butternut noodles to the pan, and toss occasionally until just cooked through but still has some bite, about 4 minutes. Set aside, but don't clean out the pan.

In a separate dish, sprinkle the top of each salmon fillet (flesh side) with sesame seeds, and gently press the sesame seeds down to stick onto the salmon.

Place the salmon into the same pan, sesame side down/skin side up, and sear for 2 minutes over medium heat until the seeds just start to brown. Transfer the pan to the oven for 6 minutes (still keeping the sesame side down), until just cooked through.

Divide the noodles into 4 equal portions, and serve topped with a salmon fillet. Garnish with the green parts of the scallion.

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